Appendix A
Jim Jones

In the 3rd chart Angle/light/neptune (which always has to include a harmonic) shows psychotic tendencies. Add mars for paranoia. Jones’ 3rd chart is not psychotic. In this chart he picked up a moon to his B MC, giving him Angle/node/moon/venus--he was charming, a smooth talker (3rd chart). He started out with C MC conjunction mars. He did not, however, pick up neptune to any Angles.

Jim Jones worst problem with his thinking--as shown in his 3rd houses, 3rd chart, and mercury aspects--some of which was shown in the following set:

All the Pisces planets are in his birth 3rd house, influencing mental function. His Pisces moon gives him psychic sensitivities. However, since the whole set lacks Angular influence, he was not known as a psychic.

Moon's conjunction with uranus in Pisces created a problem. Uranus is a planet correlated with change, shocks and sudden, often unpleasant, surprises. Shocks and delicate psychic sensitivity do not go well together. As the constant companion of his ("over-sensitive") Pisces moon, his uranus would tend to develop a form of paranoia--a feeling like “when is the next disaster coming?” This was not schizophrenia. It was a form of hyper-vigilance, which was wearing. Every time he was unsuccessful or made a bad decision, it wore him down more, which led to worse judgment. Rather than fail, his superego (moon in Pisces)--or better yet, his mother’s expectations of him (more on that below)--led him to believe it was better to destroy (uranus in Pisces) everything.

Note mars in the above set ties his moon/uranus in Pisces to his 4th house, so this set influences the end of his life. [2010: research has shown that moon in Pisces influencing a 4th house is particularly trying for the individual who has it. It shows some one who's familiar mind (moon, 3rd chart, 3rd house) functions less and less well toward the end of life (4th influence) up to an including total insanity. For more on that, see charts of Nietzsche and Nijinsky in the Woolf paper. Here is the link: Insanity as Shown in the Charts of Woolf, Nijinsky, Nietzsche, and Van Gogh]

The NN/moon in Pisces encourages personal and spiritual growth (NN) through working with “unfortunates” (Pisces moon). Jones’ focus was on a multi-racial congregation long before it was socially acceptable, and these would have been his “unfortunates.”

On the date of his suicide, November 19, 1978, the following progression joined the above set:

Adding (a) and (b) together, Jones had light/mars/mars/neptune influencing a 3rd house, but not an Angle. And, since he didn't start out with psychotic tendencies, this set did not sponsor full-blown psychosis. He had not taken flight altogether from reality. Given his moon/uranus in Pisces, its influence on his 4th house, and his alleged drug taking, he was, however, prone to paranoia and really bad judgment. So, paranoid, yes. Psychotic, not really.

I am always curious about significators for career. They appear in various charts, not just the 7th or 10th. I did not examine all of Jones’ charts, but, in addition to his NN/moon conjunction in Pisces for working with the less fortunate, he had a set in his 3rd chart that points him in the direction of the ministry:

None of the above rules an Angle. B neptune rules b 3rd house. That, plus the inclusion of mercury suffice to make this an important mental set. Jupiter/neptune is a set found in the charts of people often called "religious mystics."

Significators for manic depression are discussed in the papers on Patty Duke and Robert Schumann. Here are their links:Patty Duke and Manic Depression
Manic Depression As It Was Shown In the Life of Robert Schumann]

Addressing the issue of whether or not Jones had that condition, we need to look at both his 1st and 3rd charts. Without going any further than looking at aspects to lights in each chart, we can approximate a good-enough answer.

In his 3rd chart he had the following:

In his 3rd chart Jones had two suns involved with uranus and one with saturn. He had two moons involved with uranus and one with saturn.

In his 1st chart he had the following:

In his 1st chart Jones had one sun involved with saturn and uranus. Two suns were involved with saturn only. He had one moon involved with uranus and two with saturn.

Jones’ lights in his 1st and 3rd charts show heavy and mostly alternate involvement with saturn and uranus, the two planets which sponsor manic depression. In trying to “escape” from the depression and hopelessness sponsored by saturn, he choice was to go to the hyperactivity of uranus--without much in between. "Push it through, or else."

I did not include mars aspects to lights. Moon/mars can mimic the hyperactivity, but not the creativity, of uranus. Light/venus/jupiter can mimic the high of uranus, but not the tremendous intensity. Jones has his B Asc conjunct saturn and his C MC conjunct mars. The former promotes low self-esteem and pre-programmed failures. The latter promotes action, but combined with saturn, tends toward wrong action, dissonance and anxiety.

Finally, we want to look at Jones’ 10th chart for information on his relationship with his mother. The data was not clear on the issue of whether or not she gave up her career in anthropology when she decided not to abort Jones. If she did, she could then have loaded all her personal ambitions onto her young, “promising” son who would “right the wrongs of the world.”

We already know that one of his models of women (moon and planets in its same set) was represented by his Pisces moon conjunct uranus (conjunct NN). So, she pointed him in the right direction (NN) for righting the wrongs (Pisces) of the world, but I suspect uranus’ part in it is “command performance,” that is, it was mandatory he do this or else. Or else he would disappoint her, which is the same as himself, and conclude a total failure.

Below are two major sets for his 10th chart .

Jones' B Asc, which started out with a wide conjunction (slightly less than 2°) to saturn picked up sun/node/pluto. The acquisition of the two lights (sun, node) in this chart show that his mother's influence clearly “developed” his Asc conjunct saturn, making it stronger. That is, she sponsored a deep lack of self-confidence in him. Pluto turns the set into a “close out” set. Angle/saturn/pluto makes us feel like we are not even on the planet (or, at least unable to participate in its fruits) and is strong in the 1st and 3rd charts of autistic children. Here is the link to that paper:Autism and Developmental Astrology

When Jones was experiencing his life through the above set, that is, his career, he was experiencing a resonance of his original identity as sponsored through his relationship with his mother. He did not count at all. He was invisible. It was only what she (society) wanted that was real. After he grew up, that feeling translated to his relationship to society in the form of again perceiving that he and his mission did not count. It was intolerable when he was a child but helpless to do anything about it and it was intolerable when he became an adult. Then at least he could do something about it. The "something" was the complete withdrawal (hence the similarity with autism) from the society that was "invalidating him."

Remember that his 3rd chart did not pick up neptune to his original C MC/mars? It showed up here, in his 10th chart. His mother’s Angular influence on him through his 10th chart was “insane.” That is, his 10th chart of career and mother's influence had Angle/mars/neptune, which in the 3rd chart translate to paranoid schizophrenia. With his newly emphasized saturn/Angle which occurred at the time through progressions, the two together gave Jones mars, saturn, and neptune Angular--the planets of siege conditions. His 10th chart of career was worse than his 11th chart of groups, but both were “insane," that is, had mars and neptune Angular.

In the 1st chart Angular mars/neptune translates to immune disorders and a tendency to sensitivities to food, drugs, and alcohol. Lights in Pisces, once involved with drugs or alcohol, are also more prone to addition. By the time of his death, Jones was also heavily into drugs. [For information of 1st chart mars/neptune as it relates asthma, go to the following link: Paper on Asthma].

Touch-Me-Not